Finding places to hunt

[idugthatup]

I do a lot of history research to find out where I need to hunt to better my chances of cooler things. I'm just curious on some of your methods of doing so? I use google and bunch of other sites to find out some information about houses schools and sorts of things like that. My question is how do you go about finding like old ball fields old parks things to that nature because I can't seem to find anything about those. I've been hunting for a year now and I still haven't found a Indian head merc dime buffalo nickle nothing. I'm starting to get frustrated in not able to find older coins. I might not be doing my research right or something but I want to be able to find the older cooler things. Any help on how you figure out where to hunt. Thanks!

 

[C&RHunter]

I use Historicmaps.com or Sanborn Insurance maps to find locations of the type of sites that I prefer to hunt. The historic map site has county maps and many town plats, some of these will show parks and sites of old race (horse) tracks from the late 1800s and early 1900s.....That is my primary place to check for my area........I'm sure there are many many more sites..........One of the sites I hunt the most, we started talking to two older farmers of the area. They gave us way more insite into when and where things were at this location, than any maps will give. A lot of the area is now farm ground, as the town is "drying up", but their families have lived and farmed there for over 100 years.........The maps help a lot, but sometimes the information acquired from older locals can be even more rewarding..........Good luck with your quest for the older coins...

 

[Old Longhair]

Another site to use is historicaerials. It has a compare feature that has a slide you can put two years up to view.

Historicalmapworks is good too. I like looking at 1800's maps and finding where they abandoned or moved roads.

 

[Digger]

While online sites and maps are great for finding places to hunt, I've found more "local history" by reading old local newspapers, than anything else. Libraries usually have newspapers dating back to the earliest editions. Sometimes I find them on microfiche, some on microfilm and others are actually on computer files. I go through the earliest ones first, looking for events of the area. For instance, I look through the June editions for announcements pertaining to an upcoming 4th of July celebration. I've found them being held in city parks, as well as long-forgotten groves and timbers. Once you find a "lead", follow up on it with other resources. One example that comes to mind is an 1884 article I found announcing the "Annual Summer Picnic" held east of town in Everett's Grove. (the names have been changed to protect one of my favorite spots). This was to be an all day affair, with the picnic, guest speakers and horse racing. Never having heard of Everett's Grove, I went to the Court House and found land records for families named Everett, during that timeframe. There were two......James lived in town and owned a market. And George Everett owned 120 acres in 1880, just two miles east of town. It had to be George's place. So I referenced the County Plat maps to see who the current owners were, and paid them a visit. In talking with them, I learned that there had been a grove or trees just south of where the old house stood. That house had been demolished in the 1950's, replaced by the "new" house. And the land was cleared for farming operations. They were not aware of having been Picnics held there in the past. But while farming that land, they had noticed broken glass and remnants of an old well in the area just south of the old house site. BINGO!

You can find stories about summer church camps, old country school picnics, fraternal organizations and their meeting halls, fair grounds, swimming holes, old mill sites, the earliest commercial buildings, stage stops..........the number of places you can find to detect are only limited by your imagination, and your dedication to research. Think outside the box.....find those places that no one else has taken the time to research. It can pay off BIG TIME, if you are serious about finding better places to hunt. JMHO HH Randy

 

[7centsworth]

I like talking to older people. They teach me so much and can tell you a lot. I have found lots of things by listening to people tell old stories .

 

[hitchhiker]

i dont no much about your enviroment, but you could try along banks of rivers as people would of walk along these for years and sitting down on the bank dropping coins.Try a small coil for a set distance to clear the trash then go over the same area with a larger coil, maybe the coiltek or something.Goodluck and hope to see you posting some old coins soon.

 

[BillF]

Where I live the county assessor has a website that you can plug addresses into to see who the owner is. Sometimes I see empty houses and find that the people next door to it own it. Makes it easy to ask permission. Other times I find that DOT owns it, then I just detect it before it gets bulldozed.
This site also tells you what the age of the house is.